Digital IQ Index®: Magazines 2012

L2′s second-annual Digital IQ Index®: Magazines report benchmarks the digital competence of 80 global magazine brands, looking at 350 data points across five dimensions: Site, Digital Marketing, Social Media, Mobile, and Tablet. After four years of revenue declines, in 2012 magazines appear to have stopped the bleeding. The lone bright spot moving forward: DIGITAL By 2016, revenue from digital advertising is expected to represent 13 percent of total—growing at 18.5 percent per year—versus flat growth for print advertising and subscription revenue. However, the fundamentals of this growth are troublesome. Revenue growth is concentrated in two sectors: Apparel & Accessories and Cosmetics. Meanwhile, industries with a reputation for more disciplined marketing— Retail, Food and Automobiles— have decreased their magazine spend considerably. Within the past year, nearly half of the brands in the L2 Digital IQ Index have launched digital editions on Android and Kindle. Over one third have added support for Nook, and 25 brands released an iPad edition. Monetization on these devices will take time. Cumulative subscriptions across digital editions in the second half of 2011 totaled only 3.1 million—less than 1% of print circulation. Magazine brands have embraced emerging digital platforms. 89% of brands have established a presence on Pinterest, 83% have launched on Google+, 58% are active on Tumblr, and 30% are using Instagram. Two brands: Real Simple and Better Homes and Gardens have already crossed the 100,000 milestone on Pinterest and 12 brands have built larger communities on Google+ than Facebook. Magazines are beginning to discover which platforms foot well to their specific content and audience. More than half of the magazines in the Cooking, Food & Beverage or Home & Gardening categories now receive more referral traffic from Pinterest than Facebook. However, magazines' broader digital advertising efforts have yet to reach critical mass. Less than half th